Institute of Medicine studying safety of EHRs

Dec 16, 2010

The Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Committee on Patient Safety and Health Information Technology met for the first time this week to begin discussing how best to regulate electronic health record (EHR) systems and ensure public safety, according to a story by the Center for Public Integrity.

During a daylong meeting on December 14 in Washington, DC, committee members -- who include doctors, patient safety specialists, and information technology researchers -- heard from various experts about how digital systems can improve patient care and what some of the associated safety issues might be.

Despite President Barack Obama's contention that EHRs can cut waste, eliminate red tape, and reduce "deadly but preventable" medical errors, many remain unconvinced, saying there is not enough documented evidence to demonstrate how EHRs improve patient care.

The IOM first pushed the idea of using EHRs to reduce medical errors 10 years ago in its landmark study, To Err is Human, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

Many who spoke at the IOM committee meeting urged the government to create standards, certification, and testing requirements to ensure that the design of these systems focuses on patient safety. They also called for better data on problems associated with EHRs.

David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' national coordinator for health information technology, is now asking committee members to issue their recommendations by next September so that his office can use them in drafting rules for how and when the federal government will pay doctors and hospitals for using EHRs to improve patient care. Blumenthal's office provided the IOM with $989,000 to convene the panel and produce the report.

The FDA, which considers EHRs medical devices, has held off any regulation of the systems.